Glasgow Uni commissions £40m research hub

The University of Glasgow has commissioned international architecture and design firm HOK and engineering consultants WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff to develop a new £40 million research hub dedicated to investigating energy demand and waste management.

The research hub — expected to be completed in 2019 — will be developed on the University’s 31 hectares Gilmorehill Campus in the West End of Glasgow.

“We are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with the University of Glasgow and our partners on the design of this significant and visionary project,” said Adrian Gainer, regional leader for science and technology at HOK.

“We look forward to creating a design that will encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and inspire the university’s research teams to pursue world-changing activities.”

The research hub will be the second part of what the University has described as an “inspirational and world-leading master plan” for its West End campus.

John Cox, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff’s senior technical director for building structures said: “Partnering with HOK allowed us to bring the most recent innovative expertise in world class research facilities to the project.

“This is a significant win for us as it strengthens our ongoing relationship with the University of Glasgow as well as raising our engineering skills profile in the education sector across Scotland and the UK as a whole.”

WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff has been involved in many high profile UK projects including the Shard in London, the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and Waverley Station in Edinburgh.